DIY, Video of streaming HDTV to an Xbox 360
By Kevin C. Tofel 
posted Dec 8th 2005 2:54PM
posted Dec 8th 2005 2:54PM
You didn't think we were really done with our Windows Media Center project, did ya? No way! Sure we built the WMCE with HDTV compatibility for under a grand, but we're also streaming high-def content to our Xbox 360! To illustrate this, we captured a video for your viewing pleasure; sorry it's not in high-def. Actually, the video quality does this project no justice, but it does show you that you can wirelessly stream HDTV from a WMCE PC to an Xbox 360. Don't judge the video on the quality; watch this for the content and the concept; we already know we won't be winning an Oscar for it!
You can download the 72.5 MB QuickTime file here or by clicking on the image above. The video is roughly 5 minutes and 27 seconds long and is best viewed in small window, as it doesn't scale up well.
What video codecs does Xbox 360 support for streaming? Is it WMV ONLY??
I would think that any media that MCE supports can also be viewed/played through the MCE Extender on the Xbox 360.
As a sort of follow-up question to comments #1 and #2, does the XBOX 360 process the compressed video, or does the Media Center PC handle all the decompression? I'm just worried that the skipping and stuttering you mention in the video is the XBOX 360 struggling with the large file and not the wireless router that you're labeling as the culprit right now.
Excellent post, by the way.
MCE+360 supports WMV/WMVHD and the various mpeg formats - no AVI support at all, of course, mostly due to piracy and such.
as for stuttering, I do not believe it has to do with compression on either side; a wireless connection is inherenitly unstable and is probably the culprit.
by the way...whats with the scanlines? :p
actually, i would rather pose the question: i understand the effect from interlaced CRTs, but does it also apply to progressive sets?
I find it ironic (and damn funny) that the video file of this is QuickTime format, covering a Microsoft product. Tee hee.
We do ironic better than anyone Jeremy! In fact, our version of the Xbox 360 is already running Linux. ;)
Your Xbox 360 is running Linux!? Wooot? Tell me how!
:)
Hey thanks for the video. I'm awaiting the opening of my 360 on christmas morning. I'm looking to get an HD tuner card for my PC and I have a question...
Does that ATI card and MCE allow you to record the multi-channel AC3 audio that comes with most HD show? ie. does it record all 6 channels or just stereo? Also, when playing back on the 360, would it be in 5.1?
Thanks.
Would you like to come on our podcast and talk about this?
It's a little disappointing that the 360 can't stream video via Windows Media Connect (does great with music and photos, but not video). My Streamium SL400i does th video thing very well, and it's probably the only reason I haven't moved it from my living room so far.
How does MCE stream the video? I wouldn't be surprised to see that it's actually using WMC under the hood!
This means I may just have to rebuild my primary desktop as a Media Center build (even though I don't have a tuner - just to get the streaming).
Has anyone tried to use 360 + Vista ? The Vista Beta, which is "ultimate" edition, has Media Center functionality built in. I'd be curious to know if that works as well... I may be able to kill 2 birds with 1 stone when Beta 2 comes out.
Kevin, just replying to your comment here as well...
Kevin said: "Tim, the 360 and the WMCE PC actually are using Windows Media Connect to stream audio and video. There's a WMCE update required for the 360, but it is WMC. If you're looking for a tuner (or a way upgrade a base WMCE machine), we just did a whole series of posts starting here: http://www.hdbeat.com/2005/11/21/sub-grand-wmce-the-base-system/"
Curiously, I still can't seem to stream video with WMC. Maybe I'm just missing something, but when I go to video on the menu the I only have the option to play from hard drive. I don't get the choice of where to play from like I do with music and photos.
According to Xbox.com (http://www.xbox.com/pcsetup), this is probably the expected behavior.
"Connect to a computer running Windows Media Center and:
* Listen to your music collection
* View pictures
* Watch live TV
* Pause and replay live TV
* Record TV shows then watch them later
* Watch Videos
* Download and watch movies
* Buy music online
Connect to a computer running Windows XP Service Pack 2 and:
* Listen to your music collection
* View pictures"
I'm not looking at adding a tuner to my computer (I've already abandoned the MCE - see, e.g., http://slashstar.com/blogs/tim/archive/2004/12/29/1175.aspx). I just want to be able to play videos over WMC! What angers me most is that this seems like BS crippling of functionality to preserve a unique selling point for MCE.
I have been streaming dvd,movies for about a year or more. I have over 400 gig of media streaming to 3 xbox 360.